The More Things Change
by GraviRemix
Summary: What ever happened to a certain mushi that Ginko took away with him in a bottle? And what is the future like for a doctor and a mushishi as they find themselves still together, long after what should have been the end of their natural lifespan?
1. Chapter 1

**The More Things Change....** The more they stay the same, or so the saying goes. This diversion from my normal course of writing came along after reading the Mushishi manga. I had always wondered what happened to a particular mushi that Ginko was shown to be making a particularly obvious effort to keep with him at the end of a story. Then there was the added element of Adashino-sensei and their interesting relationship as they are brought together repeatedly throughout the stories. That just sparked my interest... While other people have proposed other pairings, to me it seemed fitting to place these two together on the path through life, both of them having their own particular personal limitations to bring to the table. Adashino, the obsessive collector of all things odd who is tied to one place by the weight of those things he has to keep safely tucked away. Ginko, the one who has to keep on moving and and travel light lest he draw more odd things to him. With these thoughts in mind, I wrote a lot about their past and a lot about their present, or rather, their future.

Hope you enjoy this piece of my effort to bring them into the modern-day, some parts of which are more difficult for one of them than the other...

**Mushi Lore** - A reviewer of this chapter suggested giving some background! Instead of trying to fill in the gaps for folks that are not exposed to the story line, I suggest doing a web search for "Hitotake" and "Mushishi". You should come up with a synopsis of episode 21 of the anime and that'll help you understand this a whole bunch more :)

* * *

The bells on the shop door chimed, the postman calling out into the dusty, antique-filled place, "Mail! Hello! Anyone here?"

"I'm here, I'm here… Wait a moment." Adashino got up from his cluttered desk and came out to the front of the shop, "Morning." He took the pile of mail.

"Morning, Sensei... Where is Ginko-san? I haven't seen him in a while."

"Aah, he went up to Hokkaido a week ago."

"All that way?"

"Yes. You know him… He needs to wander or he's not happy." He smiled fondly, flipping through envelopes.

"You are patient then."

Adashino shrugged, "It doesn't worry me when he goes… He can probably sense that we're talking about him right now, the thread between us is so strong."

"Hai, probably true…" The man nodded knowingly, "Say, Sensei… Could you look at my wrist? It's bothering me again."

"Sure, sure. Come sit down and I'll make tea."

In two weeks time Ginko came in the front door of their shop again, shortly after the sun went down, "I'm home!" And plunked down his backpack, "Adashino!"

"I'm here, I'm here! Do you have to be so _loud_?" He came out of the back of the shop to greet him, setting down the books he was carrying, "Welcome home, you."

"Good to be home." He smiled as they met in a hug, "Feed me."

"Yes, yes. I will." He sighed, frowning slightly at the usual request until the next words out of Ginko's mouth settled him.

"Love you…"

"Always… Hey, my favorite show is on and you're making me miss it."

"Aa… Let's go upstairs then. Perhaps afterward I can tell you a story."

"Good! Lock the door and come along." Adashino released their hug enough to kiss him then turned to go upstairs, Ginko smiling after him.

Many years had passed them by. Their world was completely changed from what it had been… but still they were together. Their odd collection had grown and moved with them to the area of Yokohama this time. Adashino liked to keep their residences near the water, feeling that he would miss the salt air, sea birds and waves too much if they were far inland.

As time had slipped by, Ginko's kind was becoming rather rare. People were simply losing the ability to see what was unseen as the years passed. Those who had the light flow inside of them were rarer still. The ones who still understood the old ways would call him out for his skills quite often for he had only grown stronger as time had gone by. Everything had become quite secretive within the past 50 or so years and Adashino wasn't so sure he liked that. What used to be a normal and accepted part of life and healing was now a hidden mystery, something to be guarded carefully out of fear, spoken of as folklore and old wives tales.

Even so, Adashino had never regretted taking the chance to step off the mortal path and now he was nearly 350 years old. He would always say that he would have felt too guilty to die on Ginko and leave him alone in the world. Ginko laughed at him and said that Adashino actually couldn't stand the thought of leaving his odd collection of things behind, instead. Regardless of the length of time that had left them here in this strange and very changed land, they had remained together.

This evening, Ginko was just a man in a relatively modern kitchen, digging about in the freezer to find something to fill his perpetually empty stomach with, "Mmmhh… Ice cream…"

"_Hey_. Don't fill up on that. Have a proper meal." Adashino scolded.

"I will eventually, when you cook it for me." He smiled lazily and took a container to sit in front of the TV.

"How is it that this is my favorite show and _you_ are sitting down to watch while I am left to cook?"

"Why don't you come sit with me and share some of this ice cream? We can eat later and I will _help_ you cook."

"Fine…" Adashino huffed and sat down beside him to share.

Adashino had been slow to come to terms with the changes that the world had made around them. It had all happened in what seemed like the blink of an eye. At times he would wake to forgetting how the world had become, believing himself to still be living in his old sea-side village. It never took long before the reality of his life came back to him, perhaps with the sound of a car passing on the street below, or the sound of a phone ringing, radio playing in one of their neighbor's homes…

Even though they lived in the 'old' section of town, it was still too new to Adashino. Lanterns had been replaced by electric street lights. Sweltering summers had been replaced by air-conditioned rooms. That, he didn't complain about quite so much. It was a wonderful convenience, just as the refrigerator had become a previously unknown necessity. Narrow streets were made narrower with cars going down them.

Traveling no longer involved long times in going from place to place. Planes would carry them almost anywhere they wanted… If not those, then cars or busses or trains, all of which could be reserved using the _internet_. Ginko---in spite of his mocking Adashino for not being more accepting of the massive changes in technology---had so far refused to fly. He seemed to prefer to be as close to the ground as possible.

Recently, Adashino had come to own his first cell phone after much resistance. The arrival of the telephone had been strange enough, but when the cordless phones were introduced for home use and now this further step? It gave Adashino a headache at times to think of it all. At least he no longer needed an uro cocoon to contact Ginko when he was away as he owned one of those things too.

He started to ponder it all again as they sat there watching the odd invention known as the TV. Ginko noticed as Adashino began to rub his temples.

"You look a little off. Is something bothering you?"

"Nnh… Just thinking too much again… You know, we've been in this town for a long time now."

"Getting worried we're overstaying our welcome?"

"A little… We've had the same postman for 25 years now, and while he doesn't really say anything about it, I get the feeling he understands that we're out of the ordinary... We've watched his kids grow up and go off to have their own kids..."

"I'm not worried about it… How's his wrist?"

"Bothering him a little. I've been working with him on it… There's also another little matter."

"Hmm?"

"That _thing_ in the jar… I noticed it was moving just after you left."

"The hitotake?" He sat up straighter at the mention of it.

"Yes… Not only that, but a couple days ago I was in the storage room and I felt like I was being watched… It was awake and _watching_ me."

"_Really_..." Ginko looked surprised, "I didn't think it would wake up again after being dormant for so long."

"Well it's wide awake and talkative… _demanding_ to know where you are, wanting to speak with you."

"What did you say to it?"

"Nothing. I just threw a towel over it and told it to shut up."

"That wasn't very nice." He smiled and chuckled at Adashino's annoyed expression.

"It _scares_ me… None of the other mushi have been able to _talk_ to me."

"True… It developed a consciousness on its own. Hmm…" He got up then, abandoning his ice cream suddenly, in pursuit of something more interesting than filling his belly.

"Ginko… Hey! What are you going to do?"

"Go talk to it. It's been about 300 years that its been asleep." Ginko stopped in the entrance to the hallway, looking back at him, "I wonder if it had any dreams?"

Adashino got up too, "Wait… I'm going to go with you."

He put away the ice cream and followed Ginko into the locked back rooms. All was quiet save for their foot falls on creaking floorboards.

"I can hear you, human." The strange voice of the hitotake came from the covered jar on a shelf amongst many other oddities, "Tell me what has become of the mushishi. How long have I been asleep? I cannot harm you, you know."

Ginko wandered over and pulled off the covering, revealing the face floating there.

"Hi there, hitotake." He smiled at it, "Or should I say, good morning? Did you have a nice sleep?"

It was quiet, regarding him evenly and expressionlessly for a while, "Mushishi, you are alive after all."

"Yep." He brought the jar off the shelf, placing it on the nearby desk instead.

"I thought the human might have killed you and taken me among your possessions."

"Nope. You fell asleep a day before I could introduce you to Adashino, here. You've been sleeping for a very long time."

"Have I?"

"Some 300 years." He nodded, pulling up a chair, "How do you feel?"

"I am afraid."

"That's not what I expected you to say. I thought you would start talking about your seeds again."

"If it has truly been 300 years, why is the human still alive?" It looked over at Adashino who shifted uncomfortably, "I can understand why _you_ might be…"

"I had a little to do with that." He nodded.

"He is not mushi…" It's observation continued.

"No, but he does have a lot of kouki in him now… Say, what are you so afraid of?"

"There are things…" Its eyes turned to Ginko again, "I feel things that I do not understand."

"The world has changed a lot. That's probably what you are picking up on."

"What will become of me now? I am awake. Will you kill me now?"

"What would be the point? I could have killed you centuries before. You no longer have seeds to protect since you separated from the main body. You're not a threat to humans." He shrugged, "What do you want to do?"

Again it looked at Ginko for a good while before answering, "If I were to form again, would you protect me, mushishi?"

"Hang on! What does it mean by _that_? Form again?" Adashino came closer now.

"Take on human form. Right now he's just a floating scrap in a jar."

"You wouldn't be _considering_ that??"

"Why not? It can't hurt anyone. I haven't seen or heard of any watahaki in probably 200 years so there are likely no more seeds anywhere. Even if there were, the hitotake of one will not defend the seeds of another. They only want their own 'genetics' to survive."

"_Then _what would happen??"

"Calm down, Adashino. I would have thought you'd be intrigued by this." He chuckled.

"I don't like mushi who can _talk_ to me." He frowned, "I prefer the perfectly quiet ones that just sit peacefully on a shelf. And why would you have to protect it?"

"Because he is still just a child, really. The last time he was just a child, the world was completely different."

"We would have to _live_ with it??"

"That's the idea, yes."

"I know that we had talked of adopting children one day but _this_??"

"You speak as though you are his mate." The mushi said to Adashino who turned bright red.

"He _is_ my mate." Ginko said and crossed his arms, "So we'd both have to agree and raise you together."

"That makes no sense. How can he be your mate? You cannot reproduce." The mushi stated.

"Yeah, yeah. Like we haven't heard _that_ before." He took out a cigarette and lit up, "It's not only to reproduce. We prefer each other's company over any other. We are not as driven by the purpose to reproduce as you are. We love each other."

"I do not understand."

"Maybe one day, if you are fortunate enough, you _will_ understand." He looked up at Adashino, "Do you need some time to think it over?"

"It could kill us in our sleep!"

"Nonsense. I lived amongst 5 of them and the only one I had to worry about was the human that decided to be their mother."

"I have no reason to kill the mushishi. He would be my source of protection. I want to live. Please let me live, Adashino-san."

"Sensei! Adashino-_sensei_!" He yelped as Ginko held his hand to try and calm him, "I don't like that it knows my name!"

"If you are this upset then I will say that the hitotake must stay in the jar… but I can't kill it."

"This is _insane_." He gulped, pulling his hand loose and storming out of the storage room.

"Your mate does not like me." The mushi noted.

"Yeah… Seems that way. I'm surprised actually. He is usually so fascinated by all things unusual… It appears that the fact that you can interact with him is rather upsetting. He's never gotten clear feedback from any of the things that we keep."

"And you will not release me to re-form if he does not agree?"

"Nope. Sorry. I'm the only one that can take care of you so I can't give you to anyone else to raise… and if he is so upset then I won't do it."

"Because of love?"

"Correct. You're learning already. I care more about his well-being and emotional state than yours. It is far more important to me. I have to protect him before all else and if I feel you would be a danger to him, I would have to kill you."

"But you would allow me to re-form?"

"I would… You'll have to convince him…" He smiled again, "that you would be a good child for us to raise and love."

"Then you would also love me one day?"

"That's usually how things work in a family. You were in a family when you first lived, but before you developed much consciousness. Your mother loved you all very much, and wanted to protect you from me. It didn't matter to her that you were mushi. To her, you were her beloved children… even though you were just using her love for your own ends."

"I did not know about love."

"Try not to stare at him so much. That is the best advice I can give you at the moment."

"All right."

Ginko got up from his seat at the desk and picked up the jar, placing it back on the shelf it had come from, "For now, I have to go calm him down and make dinner. Good night, mushi."

"Good night, mushishi."

A few days later Adashino ventured into the store room for a few things, avoiding the area where the talking mushi was. He didn't feel it watching him for a change, so curious, he wandered over. Its eyes remained turned away from him.

"What are you _doing_, mushi?"

"I do not understand your question."

"Why are you not looking at me?"

"The mushishi tells me that it is upsetting to you if I look at you, so I am not."

"I see. So you will listen to his advice."

"Yes."

"Maybe you should go back to sleep."

"I am not sleepy. I want to re-form and learn more. I liked learning."

"Oh? What are you doing in that jar all day long if you don't sleep?"

"I think of things that I remember, I look at things in this room, I feel the things that are happening outside of this room and do not understand… It was quiet when I was awake last. It is so noisy now."

"We live near a very large city now." He nodded.

"Sensei… Could you let me read something? I liked to read. I see there are books on that shelf over there."

"You can _read_?"

"Yes."

"What do you want to read?"

"Something that will help me understand 'love'."

"Why would you want that?"

"I believe that it is important that I learn of it. It is a strong power. One that I now understand has kept me alive. One that makes a powerful mushishi listen to the desires of a human male that he has considered his mate regardless of your inability to reproduce."

Adashino scowled, "You can't learn about love in a _book_. You have to experience it yourself." He said and grabbed a tourist map of Tokyo off of the desk, shoving it between the jar and the side of the shelf, "Read that if you want to. _Stupid_ mushi…" He tromped off.

"He is very sensitive about his relationship with the mushishi…" The hitotake turned toward the map to begin to study it.

The next day Ginko visited it while consulting a few scrolls at the desk.

"You've upset Adashino again…" He mentioned after lighting a cigarette.

"I know."

"What did you say to him?"

"I have noticed that he is sensitive to the subject of your relationship. I have decided not to make any observations about it to him any longer."

"Sounds like a good idea." He chuckled, "You're starting to understand him already!"

"Would you mind giving me something to read? Perhaps one of the books on the shelf over there? Or one of the scrolls you are reading?"

"Hu huuu… No. Adashino was very specific that he does not wish you to attain any more knowledge than necessary. He is worried that you are already too smart. The things in this room, I cannot let you read."

"I see…"

"What is this?" He got up, pulling the map out of the shelf, "Tourism? Are you planning a vacation?"

"It is what Adashino-sensei would allow me to read. Is this city close by?"

"Yes, it's pretty close." He put the map away and exchanged it for another.

"What is this?"

"A map of the world. This is where we are. This is where Tokyo is."

The mushi looked shocked, "The _world_…"

"It's much more than just Japan. Amazing, isn't it?"

"It is. Japan is so small… Is that possible?"

"Yes. The world is a very big place. These days, it is also a very small place. There is very little unknown about it. That gives people great comfort, that they know and understand so much about this world."

"Even mushi?"

"No. That is part of what we call the 'hidden world'. There are not many left that understand it any more."

"But you do."

"True. There are still many things I do not understand about the hidden world. More mysteries that are left to be solved. So, for a while, just absorb the size of the world in which you exist."

"I will. Thank you."

Within a month, Adashino was getting used to the mushi and began to talk to it quite regularly.

"Why should I believe that you won't kill us if we let you re-form?"

"Ginko-san is the only one who can protect me and teach me. I want to live. I need him."

"But not _me_…"

"If I harmed you in any way, he would kill me immediately. I know this... I have no wish to harm you, Adashino-sensei. I believe I could learn from you… Do you hate me?"

"I don't _hate_ you… I just don't like what you are."

"It's not my fault. I simply am. I cannot help it… any more than you can."

"You're right." He sighed.

"Please let me live. I want to live. That is all. Even if I must be this way."

"Can you promise you will not harm humans?"

"I will not intentionally harm humans."

"Not good enough." He scowled.

"I cannot make that promise. You cannot make it either. You do not know what might happen. You could hurt someone accidentally at any time."

He sighed again, "What was your name when they thought you were human?"

"Watahiko."

"Interesting… Did you like that name?"

"I do not know. It was what I knew to refer to me. Do you like your name?"

"I suppose I do."

The building began to shake suddenly, Adashino quickly reacting by bracing the jar in the shelving where it was perched instead of taking cover. The mushi let out a little wail of surprise. Outside, car alarms began going off. As the shaking stopped, emergency sirens started to join the car alarms. Adashino sighed with relief but the mushi kept whining.

"Hey, hey. It's okay. Calm down. It's just a little earthquake."

"Earthquake??"

"It happens every now and then… It's already over." He huffed and let go.

The mushi whined and rolled up into a trembling ball, floating to the lowest corner of the jar.

"What's wrong?"

"I am _frightened_!"

"It's no big deal. They're pretty normal. That was a little one. Come on… Stop being rolled up."

"Please protect me!"

Adashino frowned, gave up, took the jar off the shelf and headed back to the main part of the house.

"Ginko! Hey, are you okay?" He called ahead.

"I'm fine. You?"

"Fine…" He tromped down the hall, "Hey…"

"Hm? What've you got the jar for?"

"The earthquake scared the hell out of the mushi… Ginko, let him re-form." He held out the jar to his obviously surprised partner.

"You're _sure_?"

"I hope I won't regret it later… Just _do_ it."

"All right." He got up, "Mushi… You want to re-form, still?"

"Will there be more of these earthquakes?"

"Yes. They're perfectly natural occurrences."

"You will protect me?"

"Didn't I just protect you?" Adashino interjected, "I made sure the shelf didn't fall over and you didn't fall off."

"Yes…" It unrolled a bit, "I will re-form."

"Good." Ginko smiled his lazy smile, tapping his fingers on the lid of the jar, "This may take a while. Be patient."

Over the course of the next day, Ginko made a horrible mess of their soaking tub by filling it with all kinds of pond weeds from a nearby park. Adashino lost track of the number of trips his white-haired partner made back and forth with this and that to complete the concoction. Then at last he opened the jar.

"Any last minute changes of heart?"

"I am ready." It said to him in its strange, even voice.

"Very good. Then in you go…" He poured the scrap of mushi, along with the light-infused water he had been topping off yearly in its jar, into the mess and it disappeared.

"What _now_?" Adashino inquired.

"It will start to re-form using the energy I've provided here… Just watch."

Eventually a head wearing that familiar face immerged with a gasp, taking in air.

"There we are…" Ginko smiled, "Well on his way." It blinked and looked at them, transparent and not fully formed yet. "Is it enough?" He asked

"Yes. Thank you."

"That's _amazing_… He looks like he's made of green water." Adashino blinked in awe of the process.

"That's what he mostly is right now. It will take a while to complete the process. We'll leave you alone… There's a towel and yukata there for when you are finished." Ginko got up from his crouch, "Let's go make dinner. We have an extra mouth to feed now."

"Yeah… Sure…" He trailed out of the bath after Ginko, wondering what a re-formed hitotake would even eat.

In just another hour the mushi had fully re-formed and came out of the bathroom, trying to tie the yukata clumsily.

"Hey… How are you feeling, Wataru?" Ginko asked, using the new and more modern name they had decided upon for their strange mushi child.

"I am fine." It said in a much more defined voice, wobbling a little on its new legs.

"Come here…" Adashino beckoned and the mushi came toward him, watching as the human tied the yukata properly for him.

"Thank you, Adashino-sensei."

"Are you hungry, Wataru?"

"Yes."

"Or is it too early for him to start eating?" Adashino looked toward Ginko.

"It's fine." He poured some tea and pushed the cup across to Wataru, "It's hot. Be careful. Your internal systems may not be fully formed yet."

"I will." He nodded, shakily taking up the cup. Adashino helped to steady it in his small, trembling hands.

"Is he going to be shaky this way for a while?"

"A couple days until things solidify properly and he becomes used to controlling a body again." He nodded and started to serve their dinner, "So don't get too worried about it."

"Are you angry, Adashino-sensei?" The mushi looked at him, still wearing that same flat expression.

"No… just worried. This changes everything. We've been very used to having just each other to worry about… We've been discussing how to handle you as part of us."

"What do you mean?"

"You're going to have to have a history. We decided that we will tell people you are the child of one of Adashino's distant cousins, come to live with us because of a difficult home life. That is how we will explain you and add you to the registry so you will be a properly documented citizen."

"Is that important?"

"Very. These days you can't just be wandering around as a homeless child with no name. A lot has changed over these many years."

The mushi nodded, "I feel this is true." And then caught himself by grabbing the edge of the table before toppling over.

"Aa!" Adashino grabbed the boy and put him in a chair, "Sit there until you can really stand on your own."

Wataru blinked at the man.

"_What_?"

"You detested me. Now you protect me."

"We decided you'd be our family. I guess I'm taking it too much to heart." He scowled, "Would you rather I let you fall down?"

"I am content. Thank you."

Ginko just laughed, "You can't be wandering around telling people you are a mushi either. As I have been trying to explain to you, people seem a little less understanding of such things these days. More concerned about the unseen, yet less interested in it until it might frighten them." He set plates down on the table by the two of them, "So just like before, you will pretend to be human."

"I understand."

"You will call us both 'uncle'. Obviously, we are not able to be your biological parents. People generally know that Adashino and I are a couple." He brought over his own plate and sat down across from the two that comprised his growing family.

"So they understand that you will not reproduce…"

"Exactly." He started to dig in along with Adashino, "Eat up."

"Yes." He watched them for a moment then picked up a fork for the first time in his life. After a few tries he was able to feed himself.

"Well done… for having never seen a fork before."

"It was much easier than learning chopsticks."

"I imagine it is… So… for the next few weeks Adashino and I are going to be teaching you some basic things about this time period and what you will find in it so you won't be quite so surprised by how things have changed once you go out of our house."

"Un." He nodded.

"Do not leave this house at all. Understood?"

"I understand and will obey."

"We will begin to take you on short trips outside once we've taught you a bit. If you are able to cope, we will take you on longer trips."

"You are being very careful, mushishi." Wataru noted.

"It's going to be a big shocker for you to see what's beyond these walls. So yeah, we are being very careful… Little by little I plan on teaching you the ways of a mushishi, too."

"I _still_ think that is a poor decision." Adashino mentioned.

"You will teach your enemy your ways? I do not understand you. Why would you do such a thing?"

"Because… you're the perfect one for the job. You can sense the mushi just as easily as I can, if not better. You will be ageless. You will be a permanent record of all of our knowledge. Once you learn, you never forget. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, it seems to be that way."

"It is my belief that now that you are an evolved mushi, one that is now separate from its main body and purpose to reproduce, one that has attained thought and reason and self-awareness, one that is based in part upon human genetics… you will be less inclined to fight humans, to feel you have to defend yourself from them. You will also be less inclined to wipe out your mushi brethren. I have never been fond of killing mushi, myself. I prefer to find ways to coexist. I believe that you would be a perfect mushishi in this sense."

"You are truly an—"

"Inscrutable being. Yeah, yeah. I think I explained myself pretty well."

"Or, I could take all of this knowledge and wipe out humanity."

"I don't think you will."

"_Why_ would you think that?" Adashino grunted.

"Because, like I said before, they don't have a desire to defend other mushi's lives. Just their own. There is no reason for him to want to kill humans. Better to coexist… You want to live, don't you?"

"Of course I do. I desire to live and be safe. I desire to learn… I will learn your ways but I will not kill mushi to save humans. I will not kill humans to save mushi."

Ginko nodded, "As I thought."

They spent the rest of the evening going over some basic information that Wataru would have to understand, then introduced him to television which caused him to cringe in fear, hiding against Adashino and whining.

"It's just TV." Adashino sighed, starting to warm to their strange new child.

For the next few weeks they took turns leaving the house to get food and also clothing for Wataru, never leaving him on his own. He didn't object. He never insisted upon being outside of the house. In fact he seemed less than eager to even venture outside the upper floors of the house after watching the television to see how things had indeed changed… but he liked to read. Adashino taught him how to use the internet and he spent hours upon hours reading after learning a lot of strange katakana words and asking question upon question. Ginko participated as well, watching the soft spot that Adashino grudgingly had for the mushi growing daily… and it being reciprocated.

Wataru woke one morning to find that his adoptive family had already gotten up without him. He sat up and listened intently, hearing them talking in the kitchen. Padding down the hall and yawning, he found the pair in an embrace. He watched until Adashino felt the eyes on them and looked, stopping stiffly and pushing away from Ginko.

"It's _rude_ to stare!" Adashino blustered and Ginko laughed at his embarrassment.

"He's just curious."

"You do this 'kissing' a lot. I've seen it before… but never quite so long a period."

"You've cut into our love life, _you_…" He scowled.

"Wataru needs his own room. We'll start shopping for some things for him so we can get our own room back." He tugged Adashino close again, kissing his forehead, "There's nothing to be upset about. You embarrass so easily even after all these years."

"Yeah, I do…"

"So… Wataru… Today we will take you out to the shops to get things you might like for your room. We will clear out the room at the end of that hall and that will be your space."

"I will stay here while you go out." He said and went to the cabinet to get his morning cereal.

"You're coming with us this time."

"I do not want to go outside." He shook his head.

"Why not? You have to, eventually. It's been two months."

"I do not want to. I feel safe here. I understand what the world outside looks like from the photo and video images. That is enough. I will stay here."

Adashino went over and took the cereal bowl from their odd child, causing him to look up, "You need to go outside like a normal child. You cannot spend your life _hiding_ in this house. You don't even go downstairs to the shop. It's not _right_ to live your life this way. Why bother to re-form if you just want to stay in this one place? You may as well have just stayed in that jar."

Wataru's eyebrows knitted up, causing Adashino to back down. He looked upset rather than the usual rather blank expression he wore.

"Maybe you are right. I should go back to the jar." He turned and walked away.

"H.. Hey! I didn't really mean it! I was just trying to make a point!"

Ginko took Wataru by the arm to stop his departure then hefted him up into his arms, "You don't mean that. You're just frightened." He told the boy.

He nodded, laying his head on Ginko's shoulder.

"We are your family and we are here to protect you. We won't abandon you outside of this house for any reason. All you need to do is stay close. You will be fine."

"_Why_ must I go outside?"

"Because that is what being alive is all about. Going and seeing things. Doing things with others."

"I am not like them though… Will they know?"

"They will see you as a nervous human child. Nothing more. Soon you will not be so frightened and just be curious. When it changes to that, be sure you are holding to one of our hands so that you do not wander away from looking at things."

"Un…"

"Come on. Today you're eating breakfast downstairs."

"Hnn?"

He carried the boy and his cereal bowl down to the lower level, the air filled with nervous whimpers and Adashino tagging along to make sure everything was all right.

"There's nothing to be afraid of. We're still in the house." He set Wataru down at the counter where he was usually working with herbs, "Just in the shop part of it. You can see the street from here… There are people passing by… You see?"

"Un…" He grasped at Ginko's sweater as he moved away, "Do not go."

"I'm staying here. I'm just getting a chair."

Adashino came over and stroked the boy's hair, "Don't worry. The shop's not even open today so no one will come inside. You've heard voices down here when we're open so you know that nothing scary happens. People just talk."

"Have I made you angry, Adashino-sensei?"

"No. Maybe I get too easily frustrated… You are extremely intelligent so it's hard for me to understand why you want to hide in this house. You said you want to learn. There's a huge world out there waiting to let you learn about it."

Wataru nodded and started to eat his cereal while Ginko pulled up a chair.

"When you were originally born, the world was a much smaller place, ne? All you knew was the land surrounding your family's home. It was a secure and isolated place outside of a little village. You didn't know about anything other than the area. Nothing about Japan being a country or that it is a very small one compared to the rest of a very large world filled with many different types of people."

Another nod.

"It will be stressful for a little while but you will become used to things. I promise."

"You will stay with me?"

"Of course we will. You like reassurance, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Your reassurance should be that we have not yet abandoned you. Why would we now?"

"I do not know. I only know that there are many things about you that I cannot understand. You are a complicated man, mushishi."

"Not really." He smiled.

"You like cereal, huh?" Adashino tried to change the subject to something lighter.

"Yes. It tastes good."

"The sugar is good for him, unlike for regular kids. Maybe while we're out you can pick some other cereal to try."

"There is something different?"

"Oh, yes. Plenty of different things to try."

After eating, Wataru wandered around down in the shop for a while, looking at everything, taking mental notes of all the antiquities crammed onto the many shelves, the titles of the dusty books. Then he followed his parents upstairs for a bath before being fit into something other than a yukata to go out. Ginko picked him up again to carry him out the front door of their shop, the bells on the door chiming. That sound in itself was reassuring to Wataru. It meant quite often that one of his protectors was coming home.

Outside it was a sunny, crisp fall day. Wataru whimpered again as the door to his safe haven shut, Adashino locking up.

"Let's go."

They first went to a local grocery shop to let Wataru get used to the neighborhood.

"Aa, Ginko-san. Is this the new little one that has come to your house?" One of the women working there asked.

"Yep." He smiled, "Wataru."

"Hello, Wataru! Welcome to our neighborhood." She cheered and just got a blink or two in response.

"He's a little shy… In shock, I guess."

"A rough life, ne?" She sighed, "But you and Adashino-sensei will make him feel safe, won't you?"

"We're doing our best."

"Would he like some candy?"

"Yeah, he loves sugar."

Wataru got his first taste of candy then and found he enjoyed it. Much as his parents had told him, very quickly he was not afraid but curious instead. Still, he clung to Ginko while he gawked at everything, trying to absorb it all.

"They accept you though you do not look like them." Wataru said.

"Huh?"

"You do not look like the rest of these people."

"Yeah. I'm still a little surprising to people who haven't seen me before. So in a way, you're more normal than I am. You look completely Japanese."

"Like Adashino-sensei."

"Yep. That's why we're saying you're his relative."

"You also use his family name but most people are calling you Ginko-san instead of Adashino-san."

"Right. I had to take his family name in the registry. I don't remember my own family line's name."

"You have been together for a long time."

"Yep. Wanna be with him for a _long_ time yet to come." He smiled toward the place where Adashino was picking through some fruit.

"Un… Can I be with you too for a long time?"

"Yeah, sure you can." He said and with that, he set Wataru on the ground to stand on his own two feet, "You're heavy…" He bent, smooched Wataru's forehead and gave him another candy, "Hold my hand instead. All right?"

"Un. I like these."

He took a firm hold and let Ginko lead him around after Adashino, eyes taking in everything as fast as they could.

* * *

**That's it for now... There is more, but I'm not sure how this will be received so I'll leave it as-is for the time being until I see what you have to say :) So... please review! Thanks for reading...**

**Update- Posted a second chapter as thanks for the reviews for the first. Keep 'em coming!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**Review Surprise!** - I was pleasantly surprised to get a healthy number of reviews for the first 'chapter' of this Mushishi-based story that just sort of erupted from my brain in between other stories. From looking around, it seems like Mushishi fanfiction is tough to get traffic in! So thanks to everyone who took them time to read it and even review it. The only gift I have to give you in response is another installment of the story.  
I hope you enjoy it :)

**Time line notes **- I too had given a lot of thought as to when I would place their beginnings and for some reason it just seemed to me that Ginko might be the type to be curious enough to hang out and meet up with the odd foreigners who were starting to show up in Japan way back when. I can somehow see him trying to work his magic as a trader of goods to get the unusual clothes that he wears in the series. I even included a bit about Adashino's eye wear... which is something that is part of this piece but earlier on. For some reason I started publishing here! Perhaps I'll go back and show a few little vignettes into their past. One of my favorites was a bit about Adashino's older brother Kantou Adashino meeting up with Ginko while trying to convince his younger brother to come home and start a 'respectable' medical practice in Kyoto.

**Mushi Lore** - Good point about giving some background! Instead of trying to fill in the gaps for folks that are not exposed to the story line, I suggest doing a web search for "Hitotake" and "Mushishi". You should come up with a synopsis of episode 21 of the anime and that'll help you understand this a whole bunch more :)

* * *

In a few months Wataru was getting used to going out, as he was forced to do so now every time one of his guardians went out for something. He had his own room at the far end of the hall from his parents so their love life was back in order again. Wataru's next challenge was to meet other children. To this end, Adashino started to take him to the park to get him to mingle with kids that were approximately his age… or at least his size.

"Go play." He nudged since Wataru was just stuck at his side, staring out into the playground.

"What do you mean?"

"See the kids over there? They're playing."

"Un…" He nodded but didn't move an inch from where he stood, clutching Adashino's sleeve.

"Okay…" He huffed, "We'll do this a little at a time… C'mere." He led Wataru over to a swing set and placed him on one of the seats, "Pick up your feet."

"Hn?"

"Just do it. Hold on here with your hands."

Wataru squealed as Adashino pulled the swing back and let him go.

"That's right! Good job." He clapped.

"What are you _doing_ to me??"

"It's supposed to be fun!" He pushed when Wataru came back.

"I want to stop!"

"You're no fun."

"_You're_ not doing it!"

"Okay… I will!"

He got onto the next swing over and showed Wataru how it was done as the traumatized mushi managed to stop his own swing by dragging his sneakered feet, watching Adashino along with some other children that were gathering.

"Old man, why are you on the swing?" One of them called out.

"Hey, don't be rude." Adashino snapped then got high enough to jump off and land neatly on his feet, "I'm teaching my kid how to enjoy swings. Go find your parents before I spank you all!" He waved his arms at them.

"He's crazy!"

"Run!"

The kids scattered and Adashino heard something new. He turned around to see Wataru laughing. He smiled and went over.

"Well… You learned something by accident."

"This feels good. Teach me more about how to swing, Adashino-sensei!"

Suddenly the world of 'fun' had opened up to the mushi child and he wanted to try everything in the park, but not quite yet to socialize. As the sun went down Adashino was hugging Wataru to keep him warm on a park bench.

"Ready to go home at last?"

"Yes." He yawned widely and hugged Adashino in return, "Thank you for teaching me to play."

"Welcome." He planted a kiss on top of the boy's head, "Let's go have dinner."

"Un…"

They walked of toward home only to be confronted by some thugs with baseball bats intent upon taking Adashino's wallet. Adashino automatically defended Wataru, placing himself between them and the child.

"Sensei… What is wrong?" Wataru sensed the danger.

"Just keep quiet and stay behind me so you don't get hurt."

"Come on, old man. We don't have all day!" The leader of the gang barked.

"Hang on! I only have a couple dollars on me anyway." He grumbled.

"Then we'll take the kid hostage until you get more!" The kid took a few menacing steps forward.

"You keep away from him!" Adashino yelled.

"Don't give us a hard time, old man, or we'll beat the shit out of you." He brandished his weapon in a threatening manner.

"Leave my father _alone_!" Wataru stepped out from behind him.

"Wataru! Get back here!" He yelped, trying to reach for the boy to pull him back.

The thugs also made to grab for Wataru only to get caught up in some sort of sticky, invisible web, immediately stopped in their tracks. After years of being part of Ginko's strange life, Adashino had become able to discern some hidden things… He could see the shimmering strands emanating from the boy and holding the teen ruffians as though they were caught in steel cables. For a moment he marveled at it then shook it off, scooping up Wataru to take him away.

"What the hell?? Hey, old man?? What the fuck is going on here??" The leader of the little gang wailed at him, suspended in the shimmering threads and looking a lot more scared than threatening suddenly.

Adashino just scowled at the kid, "Maybe you should be more polite to your elders, dirt bag!" And with that, he hurried off with Wataru to their home where he slammed the shop door and locked it behind them.

"I had no idea that there were those types around the park..." He panted, setting Wataru down but quickly being attached to again by him, "Hey, that was coming from you, wasn't it? Stopping them? I could see some of it."

"Yes. I didn't want them to hurt you."

"I thought you said that you weren't going to hurt any humans."

"I can't _protect_ you? I didn't _kill_ them. They will be able to get loose soon."

"Of course, you can protect us… but you might reveal your difference to people… and we don't want that. Right?"

"I'm sorry… I'm _sorry_. I didn't want to lose you!" He clung more tightly.

"I didn't want to lose you either." He sighed, crouching down and hugging the boy to him, "It's all right now. We're home."

"Adashino?" Ginko called from upstairs, having heard the shop's door chimes ringing.

"We're home!" He returned the call, hearing him coming down the steps.

"You were gone for a long time…" He noticed them there on the floor by the door, "Hey, are you okay?"

"Oh, just had a little scare. That's all."

"Ginko-san!" Wataru wailed.

"Can you take him upstairs? I'm exhausted from carrying him." He smiled a bit.

"Sure I can." He wandered over and took the boy up into his arms, "Hup! Come on. Dry your eyes. I've got some new cereal for you to try!"

"New?" He sniffled.

"Yep. You're definitely going to like it."

Adashino smiled after them, exhaling with relief at being home again.

"Well… That was interesting." He resolved to wait until after Wataru was asleep to relay any further details to Ginko about the end of their day out.

"You don't say…" He seemed quite calm at the news.

"Are you going to react any more than _that_?" Adashino frowned.

"I'm not surprised, that's all." He shrugged, stirring his evening tea, "Even though he's not attached to a main body any more, apparently he can still use the mechanism that created the those joining threads."

"Are you going to _talk_ to him about it?"

"Of course I will. I'd like to know what else he can do that I don't know about… It doesn't worry me. He's happy."

"That's all that matters then, is it? That he's _happy_?"

"It's a _good_ thing. He used it to protect you. He didn't use this skill for any other reason than that. Wataru is bonded to us at this point, just as any child would bond to family. Happiness is a big part of that."

"I see your point." Adashino strummed his fingers on the tabletop.

"You shouldn't be worried." Ginko smiled at Adashino's nervous habit.

"I wish I could be as relaxed as you are about _everything_." He huffed.

"That'll never happen…" He smirked and sipped at his cup.

"Chh… I'm going to go have a bath." Adashino got up from the table.

"Hmm… I'll come check on you in a while, then." He chuckled.

"I'm locking the door…" He grumbled, disappearing down the hall.

"Ah, the simple joys of family life." Ginko sighed and sat back to enjoy the rest of his tea alone.

In the morning Wataru got up to find his white-haired guardian looking rather tired in the kitchen. His one visible eye was barely a slit to see out of and he was hunched over the coffee maker.

"Good morning." He said as he had been taught, going for his morning cereal in the cabinet.

"Mmh…"

"You were awake for a long time last night, Ginko-san?"

"Mmh…"

Wataru placed the bowl on the table then gathered milk and a spoon, sitting down to begin the enjoyable task of feeding his body. He watched as the tired man was still staring at the pot while it began to drip. Finally there was enough in the pot that he yanked it out quickly to pour himself a cup before sliding the decanter back into place to complete its fill-up.

"Ahhh…" He leaned against the counter after a first few sips.

"Why do you like drinking that? It doesn't smell good and tastes worse."

"It helps me wake up."

"Why?"

"It has caffeine in it which is a stimulant… and my body identifies the taste with relief from being sleepy." He came and sat down across from Wataru, "So… You had quite the exciting day yesterday... Especially at the end of it."

"Yes." He nodded, "Will you chastise me?"

"No… Just be more careful."

"Un…"

"There are obviously parts of you that I have underestimated. Perhaps you should spend a little more time with me, talking about the talents you have that are not quite human, hm?"

"I am not withholding information from you." He frowned, "This thing… I did not plan it, did not know I could do that until it _happened_."

"So then you reacted out of instinct, would you say?"

"Yes… This is all new to me, too. Just as you are learning about what I now am, so am I… I only wanted to _protect_ Adashino-sensei from those aggressive people."

"I understand. I appreciate it, too… I heard that you called Adashino 'father'…"

"Un…"

"Is that all you are willing to say about it?" He smiled slightly, slurping more at the steaming cup he was drinking from.

"You are both more like my fathers, my parents, than anything else. It is what I have decided." He nodded.

"Understood… You are our child, Wataru. We love you, too."

"Yes…" He sighed and went back to eating, feeling strange inside, but content.

Later in the afternoon Wataru found Adashino in the secured store room, sitting at one of the desks there amongst the odd clutter. He was looking at a drawing for a long while so Wataru looked over his shoulder, curious to see what was holding his attention.

"What is that?"

"Hmm?" Adashino startled slightly, "Oh… It's a drawing of one of my relatives. My older brother. Kantou Adashino."

"Un…" He looked at the other old drawings that were scattered there, noting the same kanji in use for their names, "These are all your deceased relatives."

Adashino flinched slightly, "… Yes, they are. It's strange that even after all this time, I have a hard time acknowledging their passing… so I look at these pictures to remember them."

"You are sad."

"I am. We did not always see eye to eye, but we were still family. I suppose I prefer to think of the good times, these days. It's a shame that photography did not exist for us then. I would have liked better than drawings to remember them by." He sighed and laid the drawing down among the others.

"It is a good drawing. He looks very much like you."

"I suppose you're right." He smiled again slightly, "That is the way of brothers, isn't it? Ahh… So much sentiment. It's giving me a headache… Chh…" With that he carefully put away his family portraits.

"So... you are saying that family members look alike?"

"That's right."

"Un…" He turned suddenly and wandered away off into the dusty rows of books and things.

Adashino raised an eyebrow, "Goodbye?" He chuckled at Wataru's odd behavior then went back to work on documenting some of Ginko's recent findings.

Later on he found their child in the bathroom, just looking at himself in the mirror.

"What are you doing?" He asked.

"Mmh? I am looking at myself."

"What for?"

"You said that relatives look alike. I do not look so much like either of you."

"That's because you are not our child by birth. You do not have our DNA."

"DNA?"

"You should read about it. It is the building block of life. Your form is based on DNA from your human 'parents', that you used to create yourself, to make yourself look like their child."

"That is DNA…" He mused, pushing at his face, "I will have to learn more. This is not part of what is documented about my kind."

"Back when those scrolls were written, DNA was not something that was understood the way that it is now. It was spoken of as the essence of people."

"I understand." He nodded, "May I use the computer?"

"Sure." He shrugged and led him to where Ginko had left the laptop on the kitchen table, logging in and watching Wataru sit down and start to use it, "You know… it's not good that you are more comfortable with this thing than I am."

"I learn quickly. You resist learning these things."

"Resist?"

"I have watched you. When there is something new like this, your mind resists learning instead of doing all you can to understand it. I think you want to be back in the time that I came from."

"You're right about that. Things were simpler then." He watched over the boy for a while then left him alone to do as he pleased.

A short time later, Ginko was startled from his work in the shop on the first floor by having a hair plucked from his head.

"Ai!" He turned around in his seat, "What did you do that for??" He rubbed his head, looking at Wataru who held his stolen hair.

"I need your DNA." He said quite simply then turned and headed for the stairs.

"What? Hey, come back here!"

"Hn?" He came back.

"What are you thinking, pulling people's hair out of their heads without warning?"

"I read that I could acquire DNA in this way."

"Why do you need DNA?"

"So that I may truly be your family."

"That's not how it works…" His eye widened at seeing Wataru eat his hair, "Hey, that's not quite right…"

"I have already taken a hair from Adashino-sensei."

"I bet he wasn't too happy about it." He frowned, confused by him.

"He was not."

"Wataru!" Adashino came down the stairs then, still rubbing his head, "There you are! Did _you _put him up to that??" He scowled at Ginko.

"No. I just got the same treatment. What's going on here? Why does he want our DNA?"

"You did that for _DNA_?" Adashino completed the journey down to join them.

"Yes. So that I may be your family." He nodded.

"You can't do that by yanking our hair out!" Adashino blustered.

"And then _eating_ it…" Ginko added.

"You _ate _our _hair_??" His jaw dropped.

"Yes." Wataru nodded, unmoved by Adashino's loudness, "I want to look like you. Like your offspring, as I did look like those people who were my original parents in this world."

"That _isn't_ how things work!"

"It is for me. I believe that I will be able to assimilate your DNA's information into my structure in this manner."

"Look, you… Don't you go pulling out people's hair any more."

"I will not need to again."

"Whether or not you think you _need_ to, it's _rude_. It's _unacceptable_."

"I'm sorry." He finally bowed his head, "I did not think it would be a bad thing."

"Well, it is. How would you like it if someone did that to you?"

"I don't know."

"I'll show you, then!" He went toward the boy to give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Adashino…" Ginko laughed, "Stop that. He means well. I think he's just trying to say he wants to look more like our child. As though he was somehow born from the two of us. Maybe we should just be flattered."

"I'd be more flattered if my head didn't hurt!" He bent, taking the boy by the shoulders and looking him in the eye, "Listen to me. Before you do something like that again, you ask us more questions about it. Stop making decisions without getting input from people who have been around and walking this earth longer than you."

"Yes, father." He nodded.

Adashino softened involuntarily from those words, then grumbled, "I can't even stay mad at you… That isn't fair." He stood up again, "So… is that going to work?" He asked Ginko who just shrugged.

"Maybe. It's not really understood how a hitotake is formed, how it assimilates the child it replaces. I do know that it usually happens very early in a pregnancy, when things are not fully shaped… Do you understand, Wataru?"

"I have theories. The mechanism inside of myself that can weave this body from nature based upon the information I took from my mother and father will also take the information from the two of you to adjust my appearance."

"It might just destabilize you. You are intended to take in the DNA you find in the growing child, not additional DNA from other donors."

"I think if it is done slowly, with little information, I will be stable. The changes will be slow and not immediately noticeable by other people."

"You're going for subtlety." Ginko smiled.

"Yes. You have repeatedly told me that I must blend in. It wouldn't do to go to sleep this way and wake up looking like you both instead."

"At least he is showing some sense in all of this." Ginko shrugged again.

"Great…" Adashino sighed and pulled up a chair to sit down, "You don't _need_ to look like us."

"I want to."

"_Wanting _to is not a justification for things, you know."

"Why not?"

"Because there are other factors to consider than your own desires."

"I have considered many factors in making this decision. Wanting to is the basis for the decision." He went to Adashino's side, hugging him where he was sitting.

Ginko smiled more, watching the two of them, "He knows how to soften you up…"

"It seems so." Adashino relented, "You should _still_ apologize to us for yanking out our hair."

"I am sorry. Please accept my apology." Wataru stood back and bowed.

"I accept." Ginko nodded.

Wataru looked up at Adashino expectantly then got a good hair mussing, "I give in. I accept your apology."

"Good. I would like kisses now." Wataru tugged on his shirt.

Ginko snickered, "It's so adorable."

"Shut up." He grumbled and hefted Wataru into his lap, giving him a kiss on the cheek, "Do you know… Ginko might give you better kisses. He sure laughs a lot so perhaps he thinks he can do a better job."

"I will evaluate." He nodded, climbing down and crossing the floor to Ginko, holding out his arms.

"Pressure's on." He smiled, scooping up his child, kissing him and roughhousing a little, making him squeal and laugh, "That's called tickling! Ha ha!"

Adashino smiled at them and then when Ginko got up and tossed the laughing boy over his shoulder, he followed them upstairs for dinner.

From there, Wataru started growing in all directions. For some reason, people didn't seem to pay much attention to his rather startling changes, including beginning to look some bit more like Ginko and Adashino combined. Perhaps it was just that people were used to unusual things being associated with them and they just didn't bother to take note. Ginko was fairly sure that Wataru could give off some sort of calming influence that assisted in assimilation into a family and was also useful for blending in. They learned even more about the boy's unusual skills as the months passed.

Wataru relished every moment spent with his guardians who he now called 'father' instead of 'uncle'. Adashino was amused to see Ginko and Wataru together, hunched over scrolls in the shop or in the storeroom. The boy was definitely a good student.

"Is he a child or a mushi?" Adashino mused as they lounged around in the living room watching movies now that Wataru was asleep.

"He is _both_… our child and a mushi. There is nothing wrong with that." He noted Adashino's look of disappointment, "Touji… you don't have to love him any less because of what he is made of."

"You're right." He sighed and tasted his partner's warm, reassuring kiss.

"I still love _you_, even if you are mostly made of pancakes and rice balls." He smiled.

"Ginko…" He huffed, "I still love you, even if you are made mostly of ice cream and udon."

"Then we are all set, aren't we?"

"I suppose we are… I really do love him."

"I'm glad. We have a good family."

Wataru had gotten up to get a drink from the kitchen when he came across his parents embracing in the living area. He smiled and left them alone, getting water from the bathroom instead so he didn't disturb them.

"I hope that one day I will find someone to love as much as you love each other." He sighed and pulled up the blanket to go to back to sleep.

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**Thus ends another segment! I'm looking forward to reading more reviews to see whether or not I should keep posting this.  
**

**Thanks for reading**


	3. Chapter 3

**Celebrating with a new chapter** - For those who were wondering if there would be another one, yes there is! Right now I am celebrating the end of writing a copious amount of essays in a very short amount of time. I am not an essay writer by any means and found it quite painful in some ways. So, if you were looking for updates to this or any of my other work, it'll be coming along soon as I enjoy myself with 'regular' writing - cleaning and pushing out chapters. Ah, it feels good to be writing fiction again...

I do think that perhaps too much is being made of the orientations of the two main characters in this tale, but it is what it is. There is very little in the way of yaoi with regard to this series, likely because it doesn't really lend itself to it. There are no cute and shy boys, just two guys doing a job. Please do your best to look at them as two people first because their orientation, while an important part of the piece, is really not their main raison d'etre. The M rating came about not because of explicit details, but because the subject matter is perhaps not something that younger folks would want to read, anyway.

For those who are still reading this - please enjoy this shortish chapter which, as mentioned at the start of the last chapter, a vignette into the earlier lives of Ginko and Adashino-sensei. Celebrate with me, as I return to doing something I love :) Woo?!

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In a few springs, the village matchmakers gave up on Adashino, especially with Ginko hovering around so often, staking his claim to their local doctor. Just as the matchmakers' challenges ended, another sort came along. This time it was in the form of a visitor wearing fine clothing that had come into town, late the night before, staying down at the local inn. In the morning the visitor was standing and looking concerned at the strangeness that was happening just outside of the home that Adashino often shared with Ginko.

"What is _this_? Where is Adashino Touji-sensei?" He demanded, glowering down upon Ginko who was wearing a cloth mask over his nose and mouth, crouched beside a large boiling pot of… something.

"He's in the house." Ginko nodded toward it, "Who are you?"

"Kantou!" Adashino had come out onto the front porch, answering the question.

"Touji. _There _you are."

"What are you doing here?" He came down the steps toward them.

"More importantly, who is this strange _person_ and what is he _doing_??" He pointed at the white head of hair.

Ginko pulled down the mask from his face, "I'm his partner, that's who."

"Partner? What does _that_ mean?" Kantou scowled.

"Aa, Kantou… Just come inside. I'll explain." He flustered, bringing his brother up and into the house to have some tea.

"So, what was that all about? And why is his hair white that way? He doesn't look that old..."

"It's just something that… well, he's had that white hair since he was very young. It can't be helped." Adashino sighed, feeling annoyed by the surprise visit.

"What does he mean by _partner_?"

"He helps me now and again… We consult with one another on certain things and he lives here with me when he is able to stop traveling…"

"He is a doctor?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes… He is a mushishi and also rather skilled with herbal medicine."

"Ah… More of _that _nonsense." Kantou huffed, "When are you going to come home and start to practice medicine properly?"

"No time soon." He nodded, "Is that why you have come all this way? Just to bother me about what you see as my failings?"

"The family is _concerned_, Touji. And you're already 30, unmarried, out here in the middle of nowhere, toying around with all this superstition."

"Yes yes…" He waved a hand in dismissal. He had heard it all before. Mostly it had been in the form of letters from the family, asking for his return. It had been easy to ignore those because of the distance between himself and his family, but now it seemed they were more serious. At least enough to send his older brother to ask after him.

"It's time you came home. That is why I am here. To bring you home."

"Wh… What?" He scowled, "Do I look like a _child_ to you?"

"You look like someone on his way to wasting his life! You are coming home!"

"He's not going _anywhere_." Ginko had come in, dusting himself off.

"You… _You _have no say in this matter." Kantou replied.

"Oh, I have _plenty _of say in this matter." He corrected.

"Ginko…" Adashino tried to take a stern tone, warning him off.

"Get out, you good-for-nothing vagrant." Kantou told him quite sternly.

"This is my home, and you are a guest here, I'll thank you to remember." He wandered past them, stretching a bit and yawning before pouring a cup of tea for himself. The two brothers watched him take a slow sip, having not yet had tea due to their discussion.

"I have no idea how you imagine that to be true." Kantou scoffed.

"This is also _his_ home. You have no right to tell him what to do."

"He is part of my family. Of _course _I have a right to tell him what is best for him! Stay out of it!"

"Aah, I see at least you're just as stubborn as your younger brother can be." He smiled lazily.

Adashino had really hoped that his family would just forget about him and their lives would move peacefully forward, but it appeared that they were determined to pull him back. Faced with this situation, he wasn't quite sure what to do. As it was, Ginko seemed to have his own ideas about how to handle things. His peaceful methods didn't seem to be winning Kantou over. If anything his older brother was just becoming more annoyed.

"Chh… Touji, there is a marriage awaiting you in Kyoto. You are expected to take it and become part of the family practice. One way or another I _will_ bring you home."

"You're too late. He's already married." Ginko mentioned, starting to prepare a cigarette now that he'd had his first sip of tea.

"What??" Kantou's eyes widened with shock, "Don't tell me you've married yourself to a low-class fishing village girl!"

"N… No…" He could only wonder how far Ginko was planning to take this but there didn't seem to be anything he could do to stop him. Perhaps it was for the best.

"Where is she?? There is _always _a way to end these things! We will pay her family off!"

"I don't think that will work." Ginko mused, lighting up from the cooking fire.

"_Why _are you even still here in this room?? Get out!" Kantou vented at him.

"I like this room." He shrugged, not reacting to Kantou's loudness. If anything he was doing what he usually did when faced with confrontation that didn't worry him. He was becoming more relaxed about their interaction. He knew he had already won. There was no need for him to fight.

"This is _family _business!"

"I know." He nodded, "That's why I'm here to let you know that what you are asking for is impossible."

"What the… Who _is _this person?? _Why _is he still here?? Get rid of him, Touji!" He turned his anger on his younger brother since he didn't seem to be able to do anything about Ginko.

"I… can't do that. As I've explained, this is also his home." He huffed and made his decision to speak his mind. It couldn't hurt, "Kantou, it's time for the family in Kyoto to finally forget about me. I am _not _coming home. I came here for a reason, and that was to practice medicine for those hard working people who might otherwise not have access to care. I also came out here to learn more about things you think of as foolish. The unseen world. While this is an embarrassment to the family, I cannot change that this is important to me, and very real."

"There comes a time when you should put aside your whims and hobbies in favor of your family _honor_, Touji… It has been far too long." Kantou shook his head disapprovingly.

"I will not do as you ask. And anyway, as he told you, I am married as much as I can be already."

"What is that supposed to mean? I've already said we will pay that family to end the marriage. It is not an issue."

"I don't think that money will be able to free me from this obligation." He laughed uneasily, "I don't want to be freed of it, anyway."

"This isn't a matter of what you _want_, Touji. You need to grow up at last. Take to your responsibilities as the grown man that you are."

"I see." He sighed, "Ne, Ginko… How much money do you want for me?"

"There is no money that equals your worth. I won't be selling you today." He smiled slightly more, taking another draw on his smoldering cigarette.

"There. You have your answer. I am not for sale." Touji shrugged.

Kantou just stared at the two of them, absorbing… and then, "WHAT?? You cannot mean to say you consider yourself _married _to this… person!"

"I do." He nodded.

"Just ask the village matchmakers. Even they've given up on separating us. I don't think you'll have much more luck... You want some noodles, Kantou-san? I'm about to make some lunch." Ginko casually jerked a thumb in the direction of the cooking pots.

"This is _insane_! You've definitely lost your mind! A _man_? And a vagrant herbalist at that??" Kantou spluttered.

"It's true. This is how it has been for several years now. It is not something I can put aside."

"What is he holding over you to make you _say _such a thing??"

"Holding over me?" Touji leaned forward, laughing a little, "Nothing. I just love him." Suddenly it seemed all too easy to just let it go and say what the truth of the matter was. What could be the worst thing that would come of it? He would be disowned? That didn't worry him at this point, "These are the facts of our lives. I cannot do as you ask. He is my partner and I will not be making any changes to this. Please go home and tell our honorable family that I have become quite insane and would thus only tarnish their reputation if I were to return as I am now. I think that would be for the best. Don't you?"

Kantou was in shock, hearing these things from his younger brother. Finally he started breathing again, clapped a hand to his face.

"What are you telling me? Is this really true?"

"Have you ever known me to be the sort of person to _lie _about such a thing? Why would I make that up? It's ridiculous to think so!"

"It is definitely ridiculous! In love with a man?"

"It's not so strange, after all. He is a good person who is dedicated to healing people and preserving the natural balance. No matter how you view him, I have my own opinions. So do not go accusing him or supposing you know anything about him. He's my business, not _yours_." He scowled.

Ginko was just amused, watching the two of them, so alike in their personalities and similar in their appearance. It was like watching two stone walls confronting one another. Neither wanted to yield. They bickered back and fourth loudly for a good while and then both turned their backs and marched away. Kantou stormed out the front and Touji retreated to the back of the house to go out to the store house.

"Does this mean I am cooking only for one?" He wondered, now alone in the suddenly quiet place.

The brotherly bickering went on for several days of Kantou's comings and goings from their home. Ginko thought it was rather touching to see Touji defending him to Kantou. He had gone from his usual state of reservation and embarrassment to full out defense of their relationship. In response, Kantou brought the village matchmakers up to the house to bolster his case. They simply told him that they had tried to find Touji a proper wife but he preferred Ginko and Ginko defended his claim to Touji well.

"Honestly, they are a very good pair. Their relationship is strong and they're peaceful together." The elder shrugged, "I can find no fault other than the fact that they will be unable to have children."

"Well, that is rather _important_, don't you think??" Kantou blustered.

"What a difficult guy you are…" Ginko sighed, shaking his head, "It doesn't matter if you keep yelling. You're not going to change anything. You're just like your brother, so you should know how you would react under the same circumstances. He's just going to become more set on his opinion, and so will you… Maybe it's time for you to go home. This is going nowhere."

The matchmakers nodded in agreement, making Kantou even more frustrated. Once again, the brothers stormed off in different directions.

"Is everything all right, Ginko-san?" One of the matchmakers asked.

"Yeah, this is just getting tiresome. I have a headache from all the yelling." He rubbed his forehead, "Thanks for coming by. Maybe you'd like some tea?"

"That would be very nice!"

Finally Kantou decided to go home so Ginko started the long process of calming Touji down. Finally the man relaxed himself enough that they fell into a long-missed embrace… that Kantou came in on while stopping by to say his farewells. He turned bright red at the sight of them.

"What are you two _doing_???" He yelped.

Touji went rigid, breaking away from Ginko and blushing too, "Don't you know how to knock?? Get out!!"

So Kantou's partings were no more peaceful than his arrival but at least he was on his way back to Kyoto at last. It wouldn't be the last that they heard from Adashino's family, however. The worst part for him was that all of the time that Kantou had been there bothering them could have been used in enjoying their limited time together. Given that it was summer time, Ginko had only really just stopped by for a visit on his way to other places again. The day after Kantou had gone on his way, Ginko was on the front porch, putting his shoes on.

"Here you are…" Adashino handed him his shirt, freshly cleaned and dried in the sea breeze.

"Thanks." He smiled and accepted it.

"Looks like the weather will be good. Not too hot."

"Yeah." He agreed, pulling his shirt on but leaving it unbuttoned. He seemed to be really enjoying the steady breeze off the water that day. It rippled through his clean shirt and through his hair. His eyes closed, face looking peaceful.

"You all right?" Adashino sat beside him.

"Fine… Just enjoying the moment. There is no yelling, the air feels nice and cool, my stomach is full, and you are beside me."

Adashino sighed, feeling a twinge.

"These are all things I want to remember while I am gone." His hand reached over and came to rest on Adashino's far shoulder, tugging them together where they sat.

"Nothing is bothering you?"

"Just that I won't be enjoying these things, shortly." He leaned, bumping his head affectionately against Adashino's.

"I'm trying, you know… I don't like this any more than you do... but I can't find anything yet to change it."

"I know, I know. I'm not accusing you of anything." He chuckled, "Just trying to let you know, you'll be missed."

"I know I will be…"

"How long has it been now? 5 years? I'm losing track."

"It depends on what you're using to mark the anniversary you're measuring from."

"Our first night, of course." He smiled slowly.

"You would, wouldn't you?" He huffed.

"I would… You know, you really are giving up a lot to be with me. Kantou is correct about that… So if you are feeling that way, let me know, would you?"

"Don't be _stupid_. I know clearly everything I need to, to make this decision. If I had wanted that life, I would have taken it long ago. It would have been plenty easy."

"Especially compared to this and saying goodbye all the time."

"It's not 'easy' that I am looking for. I don't take this lightly, either."

"I know. Neither do I."

"So then don't start feeling like this again. Don't ask me any more if I'm changing my mind. I won't."

"I won't either… Since I'm so set on you, I wanted to be sure you were the same way, given this persistent offer from your family of an easy life."

"I'm perfectly decided upon you."

"Then, I am perfectly happy."

Adashino saw him off, walking with him over the hills for a way before parting with him and heading back to the village to wait again for his return. While he waited, he would have to get back to the task of finding a way to change the draw that Ginko had to the mushi in the world. He had some ideas, but none had yet lead to anything solid... but he was determined to find a way to end Ginko's forced wanderings, for both their sakes.

* * *

**That's all for now - Thanks for reading!  
If you are kind enough to leave a review, let me know if you'd like to have the next chapter be more from the past or more from the present.**


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